Dulce Ann Hofer Santos (born Dulce Ann Kintanar Hofer, June 3, 1967) is a Filipina educator and politician from the province of

Zamboanga Sibugay Zamboanga Sibugay, officially the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Zamboanga Peninsula region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest town is Ipil and it borders Zamboanga del Norte to the north, ...

. She is currently the Governor of Zamboanga Sibugay since 2022.

Education

Hofer has a number of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

diplomas, including: *

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

from Ateneo de Manila University *

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA) from the

University of the Philippines Cebu The University of the Philippines Cebu (; ; also referred to as UPC or UP Cebu) is a public research university and the youngest constituent university of the University of the Philippines System located in Cebu City, the capital city of Cebu ...

Doctor of Public Administration The Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.) is a terminal applied-research doctoral degree in the field of public administration (a part of public service). The D.P.A. requires significant coursework beyond the masters level and a dissertatio ...

from the

UP National College of Public Administration and Governance The University of the Philippines - National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP - NCPAG), a degree-granting unit of the University of the Philippines Diliman, is the first school of public administration and public policy in Asi ...

. She has had further executive education at the

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, the

University of Chicago Booth School of Business The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (branded as Chicago Booth) is the graduate business school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1898, Chicago Booth is the second-oldest ...

, and the

Asian Institute of Management The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is a highly acclaimed management school and research institution located in Makati in The Philippines. Established in partnership with Harvard Business School,, AIM Historical Highlights. in 1968, it is ...

Political career

Hofer ran and won as representative of the then-newly created 2nd legislative district of Zamboanga Sibugay in the 2007 local elections. She ran for governor of Zamboanga Sibugay in 2010 to replace her father, incumbent (at the time) governor George Hofer, but was defeated by Rommel Jalosjos. She ran for congresswoman in 2013 against incumbent congressman Romeo Jalosjos Jr., and was successful. She would proceed to win in the 2016 and 2019 local elections. In the 2022 local elections, she was term limited, opted to run again for governor of

, and successfully defeated the incumbent 1st District of Zamboanga Sibugay Wilter "Sharky" Palma II. In the 2025 local elections, she again ran for re-election for Governor of Zamboanga Sibugay and successfully defeated Incumbent 1st District Board Member, Yvonne Palma.

House of Representatives

In the 17th Congress, Hofer served as the Chairperson of the Philippine House Committee on Higher and Technical Education. In the 18th Congress, she is the Chairperson of the

Philippine House Committee on Foreign Affairs The Philippine House Committee on Foreign Affairs, or House Foreign Affairs Committee is a standing committee of the Philippine House of Representatives. Jurisdiction As prescribed by House Rules, the committee's jurisdiction includes the foll ...

, and sits in as member of the House Committee on Appropriations. On July 10, 2020, Hofer is among the 70 representatives who voted to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.

Military career

In 2020, alongside Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, Hofer was appointed lieutenant colonel in the

Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) () is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Initially formed as part of the Philippine Army as the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) in 1935, the PAAC eventually saw combat ...

reserve by

Defense Secretary The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosu ...

Delfin Lorenzana Delfin Negrillo Lorenzana, OLH, KGOR (born October 28, 1948) is a retired Philippine Army general who served as Chairman of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority from 2022 until September 2024. He previously served as Secretary of N ...

Electoral history

2022

2019

References

21st-century Filipino women politicians Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Zamboanga Sibugay 1967 births Living people Women provincial governors of the Philippines Ateneo de Manila University alumni University of the Philippines Cebu alumni University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Governors of Zamboanga Sibugay Partido Demokratiko Pilipino politicians Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians {{Philippines-politician-stub